Arthur Jemison, the city of Boston’s head of planning and development, revealed Thursday that he would step down from the role in September to move back to Michigan with his family.Mayor Michelle Wu tapped Jemison, a former high-ranking housing official in the Biden administration, to lead the Boston Planning and Development Agency in her first year in office. He was charged with overseeing sweeping changes to how real estate projects are handled in the city, including the recent creation of a city planning department.
Under Jemison, the BPDA increased affordability requirements in market-rate housing developments, hiked developer fees for commercial real estate projects, and required that future, larger projects be ready for “net zero” carbon emissions when they open. The agency also shook up how it handles planning and zoning, adopting a more focused “squares and streets” approach rather than neighborhood-wide initiatives.
Source: Boston planning chief Arthur Jamison to step down – Boston Business Journal
